Wal-Mart de Mexico to Invest 17 Billion Pesos in 2017

By Anthony Harrup 

MEXICO CITY -- Retailer Wal-Mart de Mexico SAB said Tuesday it plans to increase its capital expenditures by a fifth this year, with investments in opening and remodeling stores and bolstering the firm's logistics and online commerce.

The unit of Bentonville, Arkansas-based Wal-Mart Stores Inc., also known as Walmex, said it would invest 17 billion Mexican pesos ($863 million) this year, 19% more than in 2016.

Around 38% of the investment will be in store remodeling and maintenance, and 31% will be in new stores, which the company expects will contribute between 2 and 2.2 percentage points of sales growth.

The retailer, Mexico's largest in terms of sales, said it has earmarked 13% of the total for logistics, about 10% to further develop its e-commerce business and the remaining 8% for infrastructure to handle perishables.

In December, Walmex said it expects to invest $1.3 billion in logistics, in addition to what it spends on store expansions, much of that over the next three years.

Walmex reiterated its 10-year plan of doubling annual sales between 2014 and 2024. Its sales grew 12% last year to around $27 billion.

At the end of February, Walmex operated 3,029 stores, including 735 in Central America.

Write to Anthony Harrup at [e-mail]

Write to Anthony Harrup at [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

March 14, 2017 23:37 ET (03:37 GMT)

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